Fly Fishing The Mad River OhioThe Mad River is located in West Central Ohio. It flows for a total of about sixty miles to Dayton where it joins the Great Miami River. Only a portion of that length stays cool enough to support trout. It starts north of Campbell Hill near the city of Bellefontaine and flows in a southwest direction near Springfield.

Mad River is actually a spring creek. It is the largest cold water fishery in Ohio and one of the few streams where the native brook trout reside. It is regularly stocked with 6 to 8 inch brown trout by the State of Ohio.

Although you cannot tell it from the pictures on this site, the water is usually very clear. When it is low it is especially clear. Catching the brown trout under low water conditions is usually tough. It headwaters are spring creeks. Glady, Muddy and Nettle Creeks are tributaries. Spring Creek joins Nettle just above the confluence. These streams form from a number of small creeks.

The river has several access points but they are generally small locations at bridges where several small county and community roads pass over the river.

Most of the river is covered with overhanging tree limbs. Tight casting conditions exist in most places. Undercut banks are the prime lies for the brown trout.

Catching newly stocked trout is one thing. Catching wild or holdover trout that has been stocked for a while is a completely different thing. Those fish have to become acquainted with the natural foods in the streams or die.

Using generic and attractor flies sometimes works but never as well as matching the most plentiful and available foods in the stream. That's where Perfect Flies comes into play. Our customers have found that they get far better results using flies that look like the natural aquatic and terrestrial insects as well as crustaceans, baitfish and sculpins.

Much of your success fly fishing the Mad River will have to do with where you fish as well as the time of the season you fish. This is generally true of any trout stream but more so in the case of the Mad River than most others. Some parts of the river has far less trout than others. The species also vary with the location.Much of this has to do with where the stream is stocked as well as whether or not your fishing a section of the stream that is capable of reproducing trout. Much of the river doesn't have the type of bottom composition to sustain a wild trout population.

There are a lot of good fishing spots from north of Springfield all the way up to Bellefountaine. Roads #36, 55 and 29/296 has some good access points. The Pimtown Access and the Farm Market access are two good ones.

Type of StreamFreestone

SpeciesBrown TroutBrook Trout(Brown trout stocked with holdovers, a few reproduce)

Seasons: Spring:Springtime is the best time to fish the Mad River. Most of the hatches occur during the spring. Dry fly fishing can be good.Summer:The water can get on the warm side in parts of the river during the summer. It also gets low and very clear and fishing is usually fairly tough.

Fly Fishing Guide to the Mad RiverFly fishing the Mad River is best in the Spring and Fall seasons. Writing this seems strange for me. I lived north of Fairborne, Ohio, in the country for a year when I was in the eight grade. My father was the superintendent over the construction of a large addition to Wright-Patterson Air force Base. We passed the Mad River many times. I can remember asking dad to let me fish there. He was never for it because if I remember right, he thought it was dangerous for me to do that unless he was along with me. There was a small stream near our house that I found out recently was a tributary stream of the Mad River. I caught large carp there many times. I would cook dough balls from a recipe I found in Field and Stream to catch them. Oh well, it was many years later before I fished the Mad River. I didn't know it had trout in it at the time and as a matter of fact, the lower part probably didn't at that time, or at least in the area of the river near our house.

Fishing the Mad River is predominately brown trout fishing. Brook trout are present, but mostly in the headwaters part of the stream. We have only fished this stream one time, or one trip I should say. We did fish it for three consecutive days. As you can see in the pictures, the water was a little high and appears to be off-color in some of the pictures; however, its looks are deceptive. The water was actually very clear. I think the bottom makes it look cloudy. It didn't take me long to figure out that I needed to look for the larger brown trout around cover and shade. The only ones we caught otherwise, were small and probably recently stocked.

Although this stream may appear to have few aquatic insects, that is also deceptive. It has many different species, I must assume because of the low pH the stream due to the spring water that comes in at its headwaters. By the time the water gets in the area these pictures were taken, the river receives a lot of non-spring water from runoff. There are a lot of crops growing along the stream in most places. I would assume the river gets a good dose of fertilizer at times after a heavy rain.

Guide, continued:The river's bottom has lots of moss which can be both good and bad. The river flows through a farming countryside.

We collected stream samples of larvae and nymphs from the river and were quite surprised to find far more species than we expected.I think the best way to fish the river is in an upstream direction, casting nymphs and streamers close to all the heavy cover you can find, or dry flies during a hatch. The stream is closely bordered by trees that provide plenty of shade and there's a lot of wood cover and deadfalls in it.

The largest brown we caught in our three days of fishing was only fourteen inches, but I fell certain there are many there much larger. It reminded my a lot of bass fishing. Every time we were able to get a good drift by heavy cover, we picked up a brown trout. Even the bridge columns (foundation around the column) in the picture above provided one.

Most of our success came with streamers fished underneath the overhanging trees very close to the banks. We did catch several small brown trout in the few riffles and runs we found. Most of the water flows moderately over an irregular bottom. Most of the cover is near the banks.

Judging from the stream samples of insects we collected, the river should provide some very good dry fly fishing at times. It has a huge number of different species of Blue-winged Olive and Trico nymphs. It also has a huge caddisfly population from the amount of larvae we found. It appears from our research, that like many other trout streams, the Mad River does experience low water levels in the late summer and fall months at times. Water temperatures can become marginal for the trout to survive, but the river does have a good population of holdover trout.

Mad River Hatches and Trout Flies:Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Mad River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726

This streams has a large number of mayfly nymphs that would be called Blue-winged Olives. They are probably is the most consistent hatches that occurs on the river. These mayflies should start hatching in late February or early March, depending on the weather, and continue through May and on into June. Other species of them, along with those that are bi-brooded, should hatch off and on, depending on the species, from late August through November.

Little Black Stoneflies appear in late February and March. This hatch is fairly significant. It is over by the first week or two in April. Green sedges hatch starting in April. It last through June. There are more than one species of them. Cinnamon Caddisflies start hatching in May and last all summer long. This hatch ends in August, depending on the particular species.

March brings on some decent hatches of Blue Quills. This hatch last about six weeks. In April the Hendricksons begin to hatch. This is a very significant hatch which last into the first week of May, depending on the location.

May brings about some smaller hatches of March Browns. They last until as late as the first week of June but are rather sparse. Look for hatches of Sulphurs starting around the first of May. This is one of the Mad River's best hatches and can last into the first week or two of June. The first two weeks of June, you should find some hatches of Brown Drakes. This hatch can be substantial. You will also find a few Light and Cream Cahill in June, but both hatches are sparse.

Hatches, Continued:In the middle of July, Tricos start to hatch. These little mayflies are very plentiful in the Mad River and the hatch usually last until the end of September.

White Miller caddisflies are also very plentiful during August and September. In the middle of October, hatches of Great Brown Autumn Sedges appear randomly. They hatch until cold weather starts or usually until the middle of November.

By the first of June, terrestrial insects become important on the Mad River. There are lots of grasshopper, beetles and ants along the river and in the crops adjoining the stream. Imitations of these insects fish properly, can produce some nice brown trout.

This river has a huge population of midges. They hatch throughout the year. Trout can be taken on imitations of their larvae, pupae and the adults almost anytime. They are more important during the cold periods when few other aquatic insects are hatching.

The Mad River has sculpin, minnows and baitfish species, so streamers tend to work great. They are more effective when they are fished after the water has become somewhat off color from melting snow or rain and also, when it's early and late in the day.

This river has a huge population of craneflies and dobsonfly larvae. Trout can be caught on imitations of these larvae most of the year.

We have specific imitations of everything trout eat in the Mad River. They are not only the most realistic imitations you can purchase, they are also the most effective at catching trout. If you haven't already done so, please give our Perfect Flies an opportunity to work for you. We are confident that you will be glad you did.

Fall:Fall is an excellent time to fish for the brown trout.Winter:Winter can be good on warm nice days but they are far and few between.

Thumbnails: Click to enlarge

Thumbnails: Click to enlarge

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Fishing Report Updated 08/14/17

Mad River Fishing Report - 08/14/17The stream is running about a normal level. There are still plenty of hatches taking place. Terrestrials are also working good. Fish the middle and upper sections of the river.Stream Conditions:

7 Day Weather Forecast: There is a chance of rain through Thursday, otherwise mostly clear. Highs will range from 80 to 86 degrees and lows from 60 to 67 degrees.

Strategies, Techniques and Tips:Our Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin streamers are great flies to use during the entire year. The Olive Matuka and Black Matuka sculpin streamers are also good flies to use at this time of the year.Various species of Blue-winged Olives will hatch off and on for the next few weeks.Scuds and sowbugs are present year-round.Cinnamon Caddis are hatching. Green Sedge caddis are hatching.Light Cahills are hatching..Little Yellow stoneflies are hatchig.Tricos are hatching.Light Cahills are hatching.Terrestrials are also working good - Japanese beetles, Carpenter ants and hoppers.

Options For Selecting Flies:1. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)with the dates you will be fishing this stream and we will send you a list of our fly suggestions. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response.

2. Call us 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide which flies you need.

3. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)with a budget for flies and we will select them to match the budget and get them to you in time for your fly fishing trip.

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